Spotlight on our University Orienteering Clubs: Cambridge University Orienteering Club (CUOC)

What made you want to start/become involved with your university orienteering club?

I was intrigued as to what orienteering was – I’d never really heard of it before as a sport. The previous captains were really welcoming and the emphasis was much more on enthusiasm and enjoyment than performance. After attending weekly trainings, I signed up for BUCS, and had a great weekend away with the team. A combination of interesting, fun people and an engaging sport where you are (at least for a beginner!) learning new things after every training/event led me to really want to get involved in the committee and be part of the club!

Images below: CUOC at their annual varsity match against Oxford in Dartmoor 2024.

Typically, how often do you meet as a group? How do you factor things in like travel?

Training happens once a week during term, with occasional events on the weekend that we go to as a group, such as BUCS or Varsity. We also meet for social runs fortnightly and have post-training socials/pizza most weeks. The majority of our training is within 30 minutes travel (cycle/walk/run) from the city centre. When training is further away, we arrange to share lifts or get the train. We have a training week in somewhere like the Lakes in December which is heavily subsidised, and go abroad for the Varsity Match every 3 years.

What advice would you give to freshers/newcomers to the sport?

I’d say – give it a go! Don’t be afraid of getting lost, asking for help with map symbols or taking your time to get your bearings right – so long as you are enjoying it, you’ll pick up more skills as time goes by!

Can you share any of your highlights as a club over the past year?

Highlights this year have included winnin the BOF University Orienteering Club of the Year Award, hosting BUCS in Cambridge, holding the Cambridge City Race in October to which we had a great turnout…. We have also had members attend the JK, Welsh 6 days and Saunders Mountain Marathon. Aside from BUCs, Varsity is also a particularly memorable event as 20 or so orienteers manage to escape the flatlands of Cambridge to some exotic, hilly area (this year was Dartmoor) where a great sense of camaraderie triumphed despite torrential rain and general sogginess. What is so great is to see people do their first proper orienteering race and keep going – and come back absolutely soaked with a grin on their face!

Images: CUOC at BUCS Relay Trumpington 2024, CUOC relay action at BUCS Relay 2024 Trumpington.

What do you value most about being a member of your club?

The sense of community you get and the opportunity to be alongside likeminded people who just like to explore some new area with a map and are up for a challenge!

Are there any key skills you have gained in being a committee member and a volunteer for the club?

I have learnt how to plan a training session and use OCAD and purple pen. Being part of the committee really helped me gain confidence in speaking to new people, making decisions on behalf of the club as well as learning to be very organised with my time!

The British University Orienteering Championships take place each year. Can you tell us more about your experience from this year’s event and why they are a great opportunity for university clubs across the country to come together to compete?

This year we hosted BUCS orienteering, which was a wonderful event to see all the different university teams coming together and helped us integrate more as a club. BUCS sprint relay always showcases the sportsmanship and team spirit of orienteering really well and is a great opportunity for clubs to see a different terrain and have fun! The social on the Saturday night is always good fun – this year the theme was different films, and Cambridge dressed up as Barbie!

What are your aims as a club in the upcoming year?

Our aims this year are to increase the recruitment and retention of our members (especially female orienteers) so we can have hopefully several teams for BUCS! We are hoping to establish good relations with the Cambridge Hare and Hounds running club and try to have some training specific for runners not just people completely new to orienteering! Aside from that, we’ll hope to beat Oxford in the Varsity Match, place again in the top 3 universities for BUCS and successfully host the Icenian Sprints again this year.

Images: CUOC Women’s team 2023, and Varsity Match Dinner in 2023, Czech Republic.  

Find out more about CUOC by visiting their website, where you will find all their details of the latest events and details on how to join. You can also follow them on social media via their Instagram or Facebook accounts.